And Then Came Summer (2000) User Reviews

Beneath the Plodding Script and Lack of Editing Lies a Story Worth Telling

[gradyharp · 5/10 · 8 June 2007]

Jeff London wrote, directed, and produced this little Indie film, and had he assumed only one of the duties, the result would probably have been a much better movie. The running time is 115 minutes and could have easily been edited down to about 85 minutes by excluding the corniest 'homey scenes' with Aunt Lillian sharing pie recipes and girl talk that add nothing to the plot and only tire the viewer.

David (Jesse Petrick) and his little brother Ricky (Anthony J. Domingues) have traveled with their divorced father Brian (Jeff Davis) from their big city home to Brian's beach hometown to visit Aunt Lillian (Phyllis Rodenberger) for the summer. As this seemingly happy family (though broken by divorce) settles in, and Brian reunites with his old buddy Tommy (Jeremy Douglas) who has taken in his younger brother Seth (Mathieu Smith) as a favor to his family, the reason for the change of home will be revealed later. As Brian and Tommy re-bond, both having losses in their lives since their boyhood, David and Seth get to know each other and gradually discover an attraction that goes beyond friendship. After a tender and quiet kiss at night on the beach, they acknowledge their attraction, only to be betrayed by the threat young Ricky poses as he declares he will inform David's father of his brother's perversion! The boys confront their feelings with the David's father and Seth's brother and find acceptance and unconditional love from families mature enough to accept them. Seth reveals his several month's history of 'rehabilitation clinic for gays' experience which led to his moving in with his brother Tommy and the bigotry and tragedy of that event solidly bonds all of the families during the summer referenced in the title.

Much has been said about the amateur acting in this film, but for this viewer the acting on the part of the four main characters is not at all weak: the direction is flaccid and begs for focus and tightening of scenes that would have made the edited down version of this film a very moving story. An additional annoyance is the insipid music score (piano only) that breaks into 'Simple Gifts' at the most inappropriate time. But the message of acceptance of gay boys coming out is handled well and has enough original thought and subtlety to merit watching. Grady Harp

Admittedly Amateurish but kept be (barely) engaged

[glenn-hessel · 5/10 · 11 April 2019]

Not much to add to much of what other reviewers have said, although I was more forgiving than some. Dialog is stilted and acting mediocre and uneven. But I'm a sucker for a coming of age gay story lines.

Touching story

[SDSurfDude · 5/10 · 27 January 2019]

All in all it's a total 'B' movie. The story is weak. The filming is college level. The acting is ok. The ending 10 minutes brought tears to my eyes. Seth's struggle is heart breaking.

And then came mediocrity.

[GlennCT · 23 April 2003]

I have to feel a bit of sadness for the producers, cast and crew of 10% Productions "And Then Came Summer." I mean, their hearts were all in the right place... they wanted to make a nice, light, coming-of-age story about two boys who, very naturally, fall in love. The idea is sweet, and the intentions are good. The outcome, however, is a vastly different matter. Unfortunately, "And Then Came Summer" falls into just about every trap that face amateur filmmakers face. The script is an unsubstantial mess, with no build, no interesting dialogue and non-existant character development. The acting is really poor all the way around - either totally wooden or completely overdone, often times both in the same scene. The camerawork is attrocious; certain scenes were filmed so ineptly that it literally made the film difficult to watch. The inclusion of Anthony J. Domingues as the younger brother is perhaps the worst casting mistake in the history of Hollywood... this kid looks not a the thing like his father and older brother (was he adopted or something? If so, the script never gets around to mentioning it.) And, most of all, the film's treatment of women is borderline offensive... the caring aunt is a pie-baking marm so sweet that I almost lapsed into diabetic shock, and the brief appearance by the gossipy neighbor is so dense it's nearly laughable. It used to be enough to simply make a "gay movie." But (thankfully) there are more and more films in the gay genre being made. This ups the ante, and slapping together a film like "And Then Came Summer" just doesn't cut it anymore. Budget be damned, a film needs to be ABOUT something. It needs to still be well-acted and directed professionally. And it needs to draw in the audience with a script and characters that are pertinent and revelatory. This films tries, but, sadly, achieves none of these benchmarks. It's too bad... I really wanted to like this film!

God, it's bad...

[TheOneTrueJody · 1/10 · 6 April 2003]

It's really sad that this film is so horrible. It's obvious that a lot of love, care, and energy went into the making of it. The actors, according to the extras on the DVD, really loved the venture, putting a great deal of themselves into this film. Problem is the script is dreadful, with a few exceptions the acting is horrible, and the direction is so poor that you'll walk away from this film wishing for your time and your money back.

The main problem is that all the good things in the story -- the abduction, the relationship between the brothers and the fathers and the teens in love -- are just plopped down in front with no sense of drama, care, or even thrill. The most interesting bit of the movie, the abduction of one of the characters, wasn't even in the theatrical release according to the DVD. What could have gotten the film off to a bang and left the audience curious, wondering what was going on, invested in the film, never happens. We're left wondering what went wrong with the writing, the directing and everything else.

Jesse Petrick just isn't up to the task of carrying the film. He's -acting- the whole time without an honest note to his performance. Mathieu Smith does an admirable job with his more complicated role. For a first timer, he walk away with his scenes with Petrick. It's a shame that Smith hasn't, as far as IMDB says, had any more work.

Overall, wait for cable. Then hold your breath. The movie is a lot better if you are oxygen deprived and hallucinating good performances and a script that makes sense.

And Then Came Amateur Hour

[hershiser2 · 1/10 · 5 August 2003]

I cannot begin to explain so that others will realize how BAD this movie is. On a recommendation I rented this (unfortunately my list of movies to watch doesn't tell me who told me to see them, or I'd never speak to them again). It was AWFUL. The acting was very amateur (that's an insult to amateurs actually, I've seen some home movies that are better than this); The directing is almost nonexistent: two characters are often scrunched together (on a couch or standing) so closely so they fit in the frame-- looks very unnatural. The story... hah! I think most of it was adlibbed... and quite poorly. Most of the dialogue is so forced and fake that it's sickening... and to top it off, most of the dialogue doesn't relate to the story AT ALL. Definitely one of the worst I have ever seen. 1/10 only because we can't give zeros.

Amateurish, sophomoric film sets back gay film 10 years

[vagrantfilms · 1/10 · 17 July 2002]

This film could quite possibly be one of the worst, written and acted gay feature film in recent memory. The number of Great gay features that do not receive video Distribution in North America (Mala Noche anyone??) Make the release of this appalling feature an even more bitter pill to swallow.

OK Seriously

[azcat1997 · 1/10 · 20 May 2006]

I can't decide what the worst (best?) part of this movie was. The music? The single camera shots? The dialog? Oh my god...It's like a train wreck that goes on for 80 minutes.

And why don't the dads get it on? What kind of straight guys sit around drinking white wine listening to Chopin? What!?!?

Even Lifetime wouldn't take this movie. 10 line minimum? OK, how about this: -This movie is horrible. -And not in a good way. -I'm not sure I can make it to the end

It's almost like one of those movies that's in french but they just dubbed over it in English.

Find something else.

[twagsone · 1/10 · 29 December 2005]

If I had read the previous comments, I probably would not have bothered with this movie. This has to be the worst film I've ever suffered through. It made "Swept Away" look like a 5 star movie. The script and the acting was just dreadful. None of the actors were able to bring any life into their character. The subject matter had not dept. The plot did not build up and there was no climax. The entire movie was flat. If you want to see real life gay drama covering every issue imaginable, my number one recommendation is to rent Showtime's "Queer As Folk". You'll be hooked after the very first episode, and it does not disappoint. Another would be "Making Love", with Harry Hamlin. Now that was good!

So-So movie; good story

[Happiest_Sinner · 6/10 · 19 October 2007]

The acting was not really the best out there (at least Seth looked good, that kinda helped), the music was, well, just imagine elevator music and you have it down. Some of the lines and situations were really fake and not exactly great, but this is still a good movie. the message it tries to portray is an amazing one and it is really heartwarming and a tear jerker. If you like to see movies about young boys coming out and the hardships they face all the while then this is a must see. Overall it is a movie I'm OK with adding to my collection. The problems that Seth faced because of his parents really came out of nowhere and didn't really fit the movies original goal. Other minor characters made pointless appearances and often ruined the movies atmosphere. The ending seemed a bit rushed. The acceptance from their family should have been extended or at least explored further. You never really find out how David and his (poorly acting) brother made up, or if they even made up at all. Also random plot lines and twists came up into the movie for no real reason, like Jennifer's death. There was no explanation in her character nor any background information on anything regarding the father's pasts. Although it somehow allowed Seth's bro to wallow in pity, Jennifer's death really didn't play a big role at all.

There are many things that can be criticized about this movie, yet it holds a nice little place in my heart. "Coming out with problems (especually family problems)" seem to be my favorite kind because along with the romance and happiness there is a dash of angst thrown in to make an even better movie.

Unfortunately horrible

[[e-mail] · 2/10 · 6 August 2007]

This movie had such potential but the script was horrid. The acting was horribly stiff, especially the aunt's character. The actor who played Tommy appeared to be the only actor who has any acting chops and I was surprised to see that he has not had any other work outside of this movie.

Frankly I still have not figured out what her role was in the movie. I really wanted to like this movie as the message is important but it just never got past bad acting, directing, and especially editing.

The only good point of the movie was the music. There was some beautiful piano work in the movie.

Very Good for A Very Low Budget Feature

[earthmoon75 · 10/10 · 20 January 2006]

Okay, despite what others are saying about this film, I found that the final outcome evoked the sweet, coming-of-age romantic feeling I was looking for. True, the film was slow to warm up, and the dialouge seemed flat a lot of times, and the acting of certain characters could have been better, but it was still a beautiful film about the budding love between two young guys. I found the character of Seth (Mathieu Smith) to be very warm. He's a gorgeous guy, and I noticed that not once in the film was his character mean to David. He was only loving, caring, and tender. I heard the budget for this film was like $2300. Whoever sees it expecting a movie with a budget like Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Trick, or Brokeback Mountain, of course they will be disappointed. I also know the weather conditions were very poor during the filming of the movie, but they still managed to pull it off. I especially liked the outtakes (bloopers) section of the DVD. It was really entertaining. In all, knowing it was a low budget film, I thought it was a very sweet, humble, romantic film about the growing love between two lovable young guys.

Good lord, this is bad...

[robtyrrell-98607 · 1/10 · 22 January 2020]

It took me exactly six minutes to realize how terrible this movie was going to be...bad acting, clumsy script, cheesy music; the signs were all there. At least the guys were cute, but that's literally the only thing this train wreck had going for it.

Misplaced tension

[itisso63 · 8 October 2006]

The guy who played Seth tried really hard, and I don't think he was bad at all.

What I find odd is that the sexual tension in the movie was between Brian (David & Ricky's father) and Tommy(Seth's older brother). Like other posters indicated, there were moments when they looked like they were going to kiss etc.. There were way too many romantic moments between them (drinking wine together, Brian asking Tommy to be his partner in a bed and breakfast).

Hunky Jeffrey Davis (Brian) can be found on late night TV in late 90s "Skinemax" films.

Jeremy Douglas (Tommy) seems to have gone into work behind the scenes as a Production Manager.

Not worth your time

[mschenkman908 · 2/10 · 31 March 2021]

Where to begin. The acting is poor. All the characters are stiff. Looks like this was filmed with 8mm home movie camera. Dialog is stupid. Actors just walking around reciting their lines. Budget must have been less than $6,000. Didn't make it very far so I can't say if the storyline is one worth telling.

Good short movie.

[loughoa · 8/10 · 9 September 2018]

This was a nice not too deep enjoyable loving movie. I kept waiting for the dad and his friend Tommy to hook up..lol. Its funny because after it was over I thought it would be interesting to have a part 2, to find out where all this leads them too or as an update on their lives currently. If you're thinking of watching, don't expect Brokeback Mountain rather a nice quaint short movie that leaves you with a nice feeling for the characters involved.

IMDb doesn't list Brian, the father in the cast

[neatnik333 · 17 July 2004]

Why isn't JF Davis, who played Brian, David's hunky father, listed in the cast? Was it so bad that he didn't want to be associated with the film? I was hoping Brian and Tommy would get together (especially the scene with the wine). That's okay, that is what fantasies are for! I agree with the other commenter about the brother of David, Ricky. He just didn't fit in, and that was not what I would call "acting", unless he was acting as a bad actor.

It was just.....

Average. I would give it a C+, but strictly for including the gorgeous actor who played Tommy.

Interesting take on young love

[reybenavidez-90962 · 10/10 · 22 October 2019]

Mathieu was interesting to watch. I'm surprised nothing became of it.